Australia's Young World Cup Stars Paint Hopeful Picture for the Future

It’s hard to believe that not so long ago, the Australian cricket team was in complete disarray.

A flurry of senior players retired, and absolutely everything seemed to be going wrong for the men from Down Under. An Ashes series loss in England was a particularly low point.

But things started to change. Slowly but surely the tide began to turn, and those who had vision to rebuild this team have now been rewarded with a World Cup trophy.

Most impressive for Australia is the fact that the key players who brought them their success are all still young. Josh Hazlewood and James Faulker are each 24, Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc are 25 and Glenn Maxwell is 26. Between them, there is a core group of players who can go a long way to keeping up the fortunes of this Australian side.

The average age of the squad, even when including the oldest Australian to ever play in a World Cup final (Brad Haddin, 37), is still just a touch over 28. This all paints a bright picture for the future of the team, especially in the one-day format.

"

A very young Australian team & a young captain in waiting, This team can go on to achieve bigger things than class of 1999.

— Nadir Daman (@nadirdaman) March 29, 2015"

"

The scary thing is the core of this Australian team is young. They aren't going anywhere. Except they still don't have a spinner

— Ramesh (@rameshnat27) March 29, 2015"

Equally impressive about this team is that every single one of the "youngsters" put in an individually brilliant performance some time during the World Cup.

In the batting department, Smith scored four fifties and one hundred, Maxwell scored two fifties and a hundred. But it was the bowling that really stood out. Starc, Hazlewood and Faulkner all delivered a spell of brilliance throughout the tournament.

With the lack of a consistent spinner, for Starc to have averaged 10.18 and Faulkner to average 19.70 on flat tracks is something truly incredible. Hazlewood, too, managed to keep things tidy with an average of 25.14 and an economy rate of 4.10. When considering that this World Cup has seen the highest scoring rates ever, the context to their performances become even more impressive.

Despite not having a genuine spinner, a hungry and dedicated pace attack dominated the World Cup. To have that strength in depth when the core group of players have not even hit their pedigree years yet is something to behold and to be feared by other sides. But this is not something that has happened overnight.

Darren Lehmann deserves immense credit for his turnaround of this team. Although his "matey" and sometimes "casual" approach has at times raised a few eyebrows, it has allowed players to be at ease with their roles and play with freedom, without living in fear that they might get the chop if they have a bad day at the office.

With Michael Clarke ending his one-day career, Australia can find solace in Smith’s performances. As the most likely successor to Clarke, Smith’s evolution over the last few years is likely to bring a smooth transition in captaincy.  

Australia might not be the most likable World Cup winners, but they are impressive and fearsome ones. As has been the case with so many Australian teams, they are rewriting the rule book for how the format is played and building a reputation of being a force to be reckoned with.

All information was obtained firsthand.